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Israel’s Herzog to visit Bahrain next month
November 17, 2022
It will mark the first official visit to the Gulf state by an Israeli president
Isaac Herzog next month will become the first Israeli president to visit Bahrain, his office announced on Thursday.
His visit comes at the invitation of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and will take place more than two years after the countries normalized relations as part of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords.
The trip was first announced in September by Herzog, with the dates made public on Thursday.
Herzog will depart for the Gulf state on December 4, visiting the capital Manama where he will meet with the king and government officials as well as Jewish community leaders. He will also visit the Bahrain Economic Development Board with Israeli business representatives.
On December 5, the president will depart Bahrain for the United Arab Emirates where he will attend the Abu Dhabi Space Debate and meet with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan -- the fourth meeting between the two leaders.
"During the visit, the leaders will discuss strengthening Israel-UAE relations, the importance of peace, and the expansion of bilateral cooperation," the statement said.
The UAE is also an Abraham Accords partner of Israel. The UAE and Bahrain were the first to sign the historic agreement in September 2020, with the later additions of Morocco and Sudan.
Since the Abraham Accords, relations have flourished with economic and business deals strengthening the ties. Israel and Bahrain recently started free trade agreement talks that they hope to conclude by the end of the year.